


Another Drink

by Aaronlisa



Category: Dollhouse
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-07
Updated: 2012-01-07
Packaged: 2017-10-29 02:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/314995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaronlisa/pseuds/Aaronlisa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn't supposed to be like this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Drink

**Author's Note:**

  * For [missyvortexdv (Purpleyin)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpleyin/gifts).



> Set during the first half of Season Two. A gen piece about Adelle.

The alcohol burns as it goes down but it doesn't make anything feel better. All it does is make her stomach ache. She throws the glass against the wall in a pique of anger.

It wasn't supposed to be like _this_.

There was a time when she had thought that she was going to make a difference in the world. That her work would change things. Instead she's become nothing more than a glorified pimp.

Adelle walks over to the bar, unconcerned about the shards of broken glass that litter the floor of her office and she selects a bottle at random. It doesn't matter anymore what she drinks. She's well aware that she's trying to numb herself but none of it works. Not the vodka, the scotch, the bourbon or even the tequila that Judith has taken to stocking as of late.

She watches the actives on the monitors and she wonders what lies she'll have to tell tomorrow to sell one of them to a prospective client. If it was just about the work, she would walk out the door and disappear. She has enough resources to do so. If it was just her life hanging in the balance, she'd still disappear. It wouldn't matter that eventually Rossum would find her and pay her back for her rebellion.

The alcohol burns as it goes down, settling uncomfortably in her belly, reminding her that she hasn't eaten for days. It's not just her work or her life that keeps her. It's the actives, the blank dolls that peacefully wander the halls of the dollhouse, that force her to stay. Adelle is well aware of how the actives are treated at other dollhouses, how their lives are disregarded as long as the client can pay the right amount.

There was a time when Adelle decided that if she was going to do this work, she was going to do it right. Or as _right_ as it can be when she's selling other people. So she stays to ensure that the actives are cared for, even though she doesn't do much more than drink. Adelle sighs as she turns the monitors off, she doesn't want to watch them anymore. She doesn't want to be reminded of what she is.

She collapses in her chair and cradles her head in her hands. The only thing that keeps her going as of late, besides the alcohol, is the fact that Topher Brink and Boyd Langton are brewing some form of rebellion. They don't seem to realize that she knows but she does. And she hopes that between the pair of them, they manage to bring down Rossum, to make it burn. If she was stronger, she'd work with them but lately everything that she seems to touch turns to dust.

Adelle drains the glass and the alcohol burns as it goes down. She's not numb and she knows that even if she were to drink every single bottle on the bar dry, she still wouldn't be numb. Rossum has poisoned her just as it has poisoned the actives in her care.

((END))


End file.
